Martin crashed to the ground in pain after a centre bounce ruck duel against the Hawks’ Cam McGlashan 16 minutes into the final quarter at Canterbury Park.

He was assisted from the ground by two trainers and hinted at the worst on Saturday night.

Martin’s injured knee is the same he suffered a Posterior Cruciate Ligament injury to last year.

“I don’t have a PCL in that knee anymore after I ruptured it last year, so there’s a fair bit of movement back and forth,” Martin said.

“Hopefully, it’s just bone bruising and all the structural stuff is okay. I’ll have a scan in Melbourne on Monday, but either way, I think that’s probably it for this year unfortunately.”

Martin’s injury came on a day in which the Dragons dropped six points outside the top five with four rounds remaining after suffering their third loss in a row for the first time since 2013 with the 14.10 (94) to 6.12 (48) defeat to the Hawks.

“Next week (against fifth-placed South Bendigo) is probably going to be our last roll of the dice,” Dragons coach Wayne Primmer said.

“The selectors and I will obviously need to sit down this week, have a discussion about things and see what we can come up with. But if we’re a side that can only kick six goals today then it shows we’re probably not up to standard.”

While the reigning premier Dragons have a massive fight on their hands just to get back to September – let alone contend for back-to-back flags – Eaglehawk is flying.

The Hawks remain a game clear in top spot and their 12-2 record now includes nine wins in a row.

“We’re really happy with the win today, and it was pleasing the way we finished the game off again,” said Eaglehawk coach Josh Bowe, who again missed with his hamstring injury.

One of the keys to the Hawks’ win was a five-goal haul in tricky conditions to Riley Saunders.

“He’s a really dangerous player… it has taken him a bit of time to get his confidence, but we always knew he had this sort of footy in him.”